Four Princeton University faculty members have been selected as recipients of the 2025 Graduate Mentoring Awards.

Co-sponsored by the Graduate School and the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning, this honor is awarded to Princeton faculty members who serve as exemplary mentors in nurturing the potential of their graduate students as scholars, teachers and people.

This year’s award winners are:

• Elizabeth Margulis, professor of music;
• Arvind Narayanan, professor of computer science;
• Kristina Olson, professor of psychology; and
• Serguei Oushakine, professor of anthropology and Slavic languages and literatures.

"Mentoring is essential to success in graduate school,” said Rodney Priestley, dean of the Graduate School. “We are thrilled to honor this year’s awardees. As superlative mentors, they contribute to their students’ success and also help foster a culture of mentorship that more broadly impacts our Princeton community of scholars.”

Current and former graduate students nominate faculty members for the award, and Princeton graduate students serve on the selection committee along with last year’s faculty awardees and senior staff from the Graduate School and the McGraw Center. Every year, one faculty member is selected to receive this honor from each of the University’s four academic divisions — engineering, natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities.

“Every year, the selection process for the Graduate Mentoring Awards serves as a powerful reminder of the exceptional dedication and guidance that Princeton faculty provide to our graduate students,” said Kate Stanton, director of the McGraw Center and senior associate dean of the college.

The recipients will be officially recognized during the Graduate School’s Hooding ceremony at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, May 26. Each winner receives a $2,000 prize and a commemorative gift.

Elizabeth (Lisa) Margulis

Elizabeth Margulis

Photo by David Kelly Crow Photography

Renowned for her fusion of music and cognitive science, Elizabeth Margulis joined the Princeton faculty in fall 2019 as a professor of music with affiliations in psychology and neuroscience.

Several students noted Margulis’ positive impact on department culture as director of graduate studies in musicology and the thriving, supportive community she has built as director of the Music Cognition Lab. “From the beginning, I was struck by the inclusive and intellectually vibrant atmosphere she fostered in our lab,” one student said. “Lisa led discussions with curiosity, responded to questions with an open mind, and supported lab members in pursuing their individual research interests.”

Nomination letters lauded Margulis as a true champion of her students, providing prompt and insightful feedback on everything from research abstracts to interviewing skills. “Lisa’s mentorship is extraordinary not only in its depth but also in its adaptability,” said one student. “She actively seeks opportunities that align with our research, connects us with scholars beyond the department, and shares relevant resources to help us succeed.”

Simply put by one of her advisees, “At every turn, Lisa has been everything a mentor should be: kind, supportive, and pragmatic when I need a soft landing, but firm and encouraging when I need a push forward.”

Arvind Narayanan

Arvind Narayanan

Photo by

Denise Applewhite, Office of Communications

Arvind Narayanan, professor of computer science, studies the societal impact of digital technologies, especially artificial intelligence. An expert on algorithmic fairness, AI and privacy, he directs the Center for Information Technology Policy and has taught at Princeton since 2012.

A hallmark of his mentorship is his deep commitment to true partnership with graduate students, which often takes the form of co-authored papers in top-tier journals and shared presentations at high-profile conferences. “Arvind’s encouragement and insight in class and during office hours have formed the basis for several successful class projects turning into research publications and kickstarting research careers,” one doctoral student wrote.

Described as “transformative” in nearly every nomination, Narayanan balances guidance with independence, empowering early-stage researchers with a sense of ownership and insightful feedback that amplifies ideas.  

“Arvind is a true thought leader who inspires you to anticipate and tackle ambitious research problems,” one student said. “He repeatedly demonstrates his unique ability to anticipate shifts in research trends and encourages me to do work that bridges academic rigor and real-world impact.”

Another graduate student offered this powerful reflection: “Perhaps the strongest testimony to Arvind’s mentorship is that after working with him, I am strongly motivated to pursue a career in academia — despite working in a field where industry jobs are highly competitive and resulting in researchers leaving academia to join industry by the dozens.”

Kristina Olson

Kristina Olson

Photo by

Sameer A. Khan/Fotobuddy

A leading scholar in how gender identity develops in children, Kristina Olson began teaching at Princeton in 2020. As director of the Human Diversity Lab, her groundbreaking research explores transgender and gender-nonconforming youth, social group attitudes, perceptions of inequality, and prosocial behavior.

“Even though she is a brilliant researcher and scientist, she always puts her students first,” said a former student. “Kristina extends her mentorship well beyond the scope of her own lab and is the kind of person who works quietly behind the scenes to turn existing resources into opportunities for others,” wrote another.

Olson tailors her mentoring approach to each student’s goals, often sharing opportunities with thoughtful, encouraging notes. “Kristina helped me see the value and worth in my own ideas and fostered a space in her lab where I could feel that I belonged,” one mentee said.

Nominations poured in from current and former mentees, many now well-established scholars themselves. “Dr. Olson’s influence on my career is undeniable,” said a former postdoc. “Under her mentorship, I secured multiple federal grants, published in top journals, and ultimately obtained a tenure-track faculty position.”

Many described her as an ideal role model who sets a strong example of what it means to do ethical and meaningful science. “At a time when uncertainty about the future of research has never been greater, her courageous leadership inspires me to keep going,” said one advisee.

Serguei Oushakine

Serguei Oushakine

Photo by

Sameer A. Khan/Fotobuddy

A professor of anthropology and Slavic languages and literatures, Serguei Oushakine serves as the director of the Program in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies and as acting chair of the Department of Anthropology. He has been on the faculty at Princeton since 2006. His research addresses social transformations and transitional processes in Soviet and post-Soviet societies.

“Dr. Oushakine, both in and out of the seminar room, brings levity, curiosity, and genuine joy to his work that can only be described as infectious,” said one graduate student.

Regarded as “an essential presence in the anthropology department,” Oushakine is known for guiding students, even those he doesn’t directly advise, in selecting courses that support their academic and personal growth. “Of course, he picks combinations that one initially deems irreconcilable, undoable, and beyond reach. However, he is unfailingly right in encouraging us to try them anyway,” one student reflected.

Students at all stages of their graduate studies noted his profound influence in changing their scholarly trajectories for the better. “He is a masterful facilitator of seminars, careful asker of questions, and willing beyond any other educator I have had to push and guide his students to think beyond, against and through their own subjectivities,” shared one first-year anthropology student.

Echoing this sentiment, another said: “When reflecting critically on my own work and positionality, I have frequently found myself asking, ‘What would Serguei say?’”